Metacognition, Positioning and Emotions in Mathematical Activities

Researchers of mathematics education have been payingattention to the affective aspect of learning mathematics for more than onedecade. Different theoretical frameworks have been suggested to analyze thisaspect, where we utilize in the present research the discursive framework ofEvans, Morgan and Tsatsaroni. This framework enables to link students’positions to their emotions. Here, we add to this relationship themetacognition variable, where we study how the added variable affects students’positioning in mathematical activities. A group of three Grade 7 high-achievingstudents participated in the research. They used GeoGebra to learn the topic ofperpendicular lines through an authentic activity. The research resultsindicate that most of the means of claiming leadership were metacognitive innature and were performed to enable the advancement of the group learning ofthe topic of perpendicular straight lines. These means were primarilyrequesting actions, initiating actions, performing actions, declaring actions,taking decisions, evaluation, monitoring and regulation. In one case, theclaiming of leadership was accompanied with positive affect, namely enthusiasm,determination, and enjoyment. In the other case, the claiming of leadership wasaccompanied with different positive affect that included self-confidence andbeing proud of oneself.